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CODE 104227
ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/2025
CREDITS
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR MED/43
LANGUAGE Italian
TEACHING LOCATION
  • GENOVA
SEMESTER 1° Semester
TEACHING MATERIALS AULAWEB

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The module will provide the student the principles used by the forensic pathologist in cadaver forensic investigation from the crime scene to the post mortem. The body transformations that occur after the death will be presented and their application for the post mortem interval estimation will be explained. Letal traumas and injuries (eg. sharp force traumas, gunshot wunds, injuries, burns and scalds, electrocution, Ashixia,etc) will be illustrated and discussed. Cases will be presented to illustrate the relation between the cadaver and the crime scene. Injuries, wunds and traumas on living people will be also presented in order to evaluate specific crime such as sexual assault, violent crime, etc. The statistical analysis of data (temperature, ADD, TBS, etc) applied to the estimation of the PMI will be covered during the teaching. At the end of the module student will demonstrate competence and critical capacity to understand and apply the cadaver examination in a forensic context.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The module aims to illustrate to students the foundations with which the coroner studies the corpse from the inspection to the autopsy for forensic purposes. The consecutive, transformative and special cadaveric phenomena for the study of the time of death and the various types of injuries responsible for the cause of death will then be described with particular reference to: stab wounds, gunshot wounds, wounds from blunt instruments, heat and cold wounds, electricity wounds, violent mechanical asphyxia. The theoretical part will be developed with practical applications and illustration of a large number of cases. Particular case studies will be done for the evaluation of the corpse inside the crime scene. In the course of the lessons, furthermore, references will be made to medical-forensic assessments of the injury even on living beings of which the forensic pathology is an integral part for the identification of some types of crime (eg sexual violence, personal injury, etc.). Part of the course will also focus on the "statistical-mathematical" analysis of the PMI estimate (temperature analysis and thermal reconstructions, regressions, ADD model and ADD-TBS integration, etc.). At the end of the course, the student will have achieved the ability and critical sense to understand and apply the study of the corpse and of forensic pathology in the forensic context.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching is divided into 48 hours of training activities of which n. 24 hours of theoretical lectures on all the topics of the program and n. 24 hours of exercises and analysis of practical cases.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Professor Sara Ferrando (sara.ferrando@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Investigation activities for the Judicial Authority: appraisal, technical advice and crime scene investigation.

 

The Mortuary Police Regulations.

Rules for the assessment and certification of death.

Biological and legal concept of death.

 

The post-mortal phenomena.

 

The forensic necropsy (external examination and cadaveric section).

 

Sudden death.

 

The blunt injuries

 

The stab wounds

 

Gunshot injuries

 

Injuries due to thermal, electrical and baric causes

 

The violent mechanical asphyxia

 

Carbon monoxide poisoning

 

Other Poisonings

 

Injury to the living in criminal circumstances (personal injury, sexual violence, mistreatment)

 

PMI estimation (body related methods, environments related methods)

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

For lessons start and timetable go to the following link: https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/

Please check also this module Aulaweb page for timetable updates dependent on the sanitary and epidemic situation.

Class schedule

FORENSIC PATHOLOGY

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral and practical assesment

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Verification of learning takes place only through the final exam which aims to ascertain the actual acquisition by the student of the expected learning outcomes.

The student to pass the exam, thus obtaining a grade of not less than 18/30, must demonstrate:

- To know the thanatology and the injurys on the corpse with  practical biological-forensic applications

- Be able to understand and apply the study of the corpse and the medico-legal pathology in the forensic context.

 

-Be able to apply the methodologies temperature based for the PMI estimation 

 

The following contribute to the final mark expressed out of thirty:

- Ability to deal with the requested topics in a transversal and critical manner;

- Correctness, clarity, synthesis and fluidity of presentation;

- Mastery of the subject;

- Adoption of appropriate terminology

The mark of 30/30 with possible honors will be awarded when the knowledge / skills of the subject are excellent.